Chronicles of the Exalt
by Manakete
Summary: Grima's short reign of terror over the world has ended. The Shepherds live a comfortable live in Ylisse, only facing conflict when the occasional bandit raid or Risen outbreak occur. Robin has found herself someone she wants to settle down with: the previous Exalt, Emmeryn. These stories show their failures and their triumphs together and with their children, Morgan and Nino. PAUSE
1. Foreword

I'd like to start this out with an apology; I'm sorry I'm Fire Emblem trash. I've been playing the series for roughly twelve years now, since I was around five years old, and there's no way I can ever get out. And I apologize.

I'd also like to add an explanation. Why Emmeryn? Why not Lissa or Nowi or one of the other fan favorites? Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. I just kind of bonded with Emmeryn during my playthroughs and one day I was like, "Huh. If she were real I'd really be into her. She's my waifu now." (This incident also happened to be about four days before I realized I was panromantic, but that's not important.) When I first played through the game and Emmeryn took a teensy bit of a fall, I cried pretty hard. Her death was avoidable, like Ninian's, and it wasn't fair. She was so amazing and so nice and then my husbando (aka Gangrel) went and did that and it's like, "Noooo, you didn't have to do that!"

Anyway. This fic, or rather these fics, are a collection of short stories about Emmeryn and a female avatar. They'll also feature other members of the Shepherds from time to time. I'd love to hear your criticism and comments. I'm apologizing now for my atrocious grammar. I especially have problems putting commas instead of periods into dialogue.

**I'll try my best to stick to canon, but don't be surprised if I add some things in that aren't confirmed.


	2. Introduction

My name is Robin. I'm a tactician. I don't know where I came from. I don't know who my parents were. I don't know much of anything about who I was before now.

Or at least, that's how I would've introduced myself a few years ago.

My name is Robin. I'm a tactician for the Shepherds, the group of warriors led by Ylisse's Exalt, Chrom. I'm originally from Plegia, the desert land that shares its borders with Ylisse. My father was a vile man named Validar. He was a man devoted to the idea of a world of darkness and to the fell dragon Grima, whom I shared my own blood with. Thanks to Validar, I got to go on a grand adventure to save the world and I met lots of friends and new people. Chrom's daughter, Lucina, came back from the future along with some of her friends, the children of the Shepherds, to help us save the world from Grima. But it was also a journey filled with death and suffering, not only for Ylisse, but for the rest of the world. I nearly died when I sacrificed myself to save my companions, but somehow I survived, and we're back together again. I live a happy life in Ylisse now. Our future is bright. We venture out far less often than we used to because there's hardly ever a need to. Now we only go out to deal with the occasional Risen outbreak or bandit raid. It's a good life. I like it. I consider myself blessed to be around all my friends and my beautiful girlfriend, Emmeryn.

Hm… Emmeryn. The mere mention of her name is enough to set my heart racing. She's the former Exalt of Ylisse, Chrom's older sister and Lucina's aunt. She's a beautiful and amazing person. We've been through so much together. We've known each other for about as long as I've known Chrom. The first time I set eyes on her, I felt such a strong attraction to her. Coincidentally, we've both stared death in the face… me when I sacrificed myself for Grima and Emm when she sacrificed herself for Ylisse.

Speaking of staring death in the face… I remember Emm's death vividly. It was… inexplicable. I suppose the most fitting way to describe it is soul-wrenching. It's the most painful thing I've ever had to endure, save for my near-death experience at the hands of Grima. At that point, we weren't a couple, but I felt a strong connection with her, and an even stronger desire. In a sense, I loved her. I'm sure the other Shepherds had it much worse than I did, and I pity them. My own pain burned. It hurt. It felt like my heart was ripped from my chest and someone dumped salt into the wound. I will never forgive Gangrel for that. I hope he's still rotting on that battlefield I slew him on.

I love Emm endlessly. Her beautiful golden hair, the way she smiles at me, her gracefulness, her Brand, her voice, even the cute dimples she gets when she smiles. But my favorite thing about her is her laughter. Her laughter is melodic, even angelic. It's so wonderful to listen to. I could listen to it forever. I was so happy that day we found her wandering around a town. I cried. I cried even more than Lissa, which is saying a lot. You know, there's that saying, " _If you love something_ , _let it go_. _If_ it comes back to _you_ , its yours forever. _If_ it doesn't, then it was never meant to be." Well, I let Emm go. And she came back. And we're together. And I love her.

Sometimes I wonder how she feels about me. She's the kind of person who shows her feelings rather than saying them, but that may be because of the speech impairment that came about as a result of her fall. She also has amnesia because of her fall, which is something I can relate to. Luckily for Emm, her friends and family can help her relearn her memories. I didn't have that privilege, but I'm glad I didn't. I don't want to know what my life was like before I met the Shepherds.

Something that's confused me is how our child didn't come back from the future with Lucina and the others. Or maybe they have, and we just haven't found them. We've found everyone else's children… I even know my child's name. Morgan. It's a name I've had picked out for a while now. I never asked any of the other children about Morgan because I'm afraid to know the answer. I'd rather not know of their fate. Emm feels the same way. We've considered going on an expedition to search for Morgan, but Chrom needs me in case of an attack and he needs to stay with his people. So we wait for them to find us.

It's usually not too bad waiting for Morgan, though. Emm and I concern ourselves with other things… like each other. Every day is a new adventure for us. Every day has the potential to become a story that we pass down to our children. And sometimes, days really do become stories. I've decided to write them down and keep them in a big book for when our children, whenever we may have them, are old enough to listen to our stories. The book is called Chronicles of the Exalt.


	3. The Storm

"I love you." I said quietly, breathing in the sweet scent of Emm's hair – lavender.

"I… love you… too." Emm whispered as she snuggled up closer to me. I adjusted my arm's placement on her waist, pulling her right up against the curves of my body. She giggled and blushed pink.

"Hey." Chrom said suddenly from the doorway. We both shifted to look at him. "Lights out. Emm has to go back to her room now." His face was expressionless, but there was discomfort in his tone.

I sighed exasperatedly. Ever since he had found out about Emm and I, he treated us like we were teenagers and he was an overprotective mom. We had a curfew and we couldn't sleep in each others' rooms. The other Shepherds supported us and looked out for us, except Frederick, but they couldn't always help us out with Chrom. He was probably still sore over Emm's apparent death and felt the need to play the protective role.

"Go on, Emm." I said softly, sadly. She sat up and placed her feet on the floor, then turned back and kissed me swiftly. This time it was I who blushed. As she was leaving, she turned and flashed me a sly, secret smile. My heart raced.

"Good night, Robin." Chrom said, cheeks pink. "Oh, and Miriel told me to warn you that it's probably going to storm tonight." He took one last look at me – one I couldn't read – and left, closing my chamber door behind him.

I shuddered, pulling up my blankets. I hated thunderstorms. Ever since I was a child, I was terrified of them, and I never understood why. I knew that thunder was harmless and that the probability of lightning striking me was minuscule, but both of those things still frightened me immensely. I was also afraid of wind, perhaps even more than thunderstorms. As soon as it began to get windy, I would get anxious, even if there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I enlisted the help of Nowi and Tiki to try and get rid of my wind weakness by beating their wings and creating a windstorm of sorts, but it didn't help. Miriel and Ricken tried to help with my lightning and thunder fears, but they didn't help either. Eventually I gave up trying to cure myself and decided I'd just have to try and live as normally as I could with my irrational fears. The only ones who knew about them were those who tried to help me, Emm, Lissa, and Yarne. Yarne and I often talked about our fears with each other. He helped me with my anxiety and related to me. He would let me pet his ears, which were incredibly soft. He'd lay his head on my lap and let me pet his ears until I felt calm. But that was only when I was too afraid to bother Emm, which admittedly, didn't happen much anymore. She made it clear that she would be there for me whenever I needed it, which was something I loved and appreciated. Her selflessness was heartwarming.

"It won't be that bad." I mumbled to myself. "It's early summer. The storms are mild in early summer here." I extinguished the lamp on my bedside table and pulled the blankets up over my shoulders, pulling one of my legs up next to my body and snuggling under the covers. Luckily, I fell asleep quickly, quelling my anxious thoughts.

There was a loud rumble from overhead. I sat up in bed, covered in sweat, chest heaving slightly. My first thought was that Henry had summoned something huge and undead in the courtyard, but then I remembered that Frederick had requested that Chrom make a rule against summoning undead on the palace grounds after he found a half-decomposed Risen chasing a chicken. The white flash that illuminated my chamber told me that this was the storm Chrom had warned me about. Another peal of thunder rolled through the air. A shiver of fear racked my body. Rain hammered against the glass windows, blown by wind. I gingerly laid back down in bed, facing the wall, my back to the windows.

"You can do this, Robin." I murmured. "It's just a thunderstorm. You're in a palace made of stone. It can't hurt you." The wind began to pick up, slamming rain against the window in sheets. My heart hammered against my ribs. My chest felt tight. I was terrified.

Another bolt of lightning forked down from the sky, briefly turning the world white. It was incredibly close. Thunder bellowed overhead, momentarily deafening me.

"Nope." I said, nearly throwing myself out of the bed. "Nope nope nope." I slipped out of my room as quickly and silently as I could, listening for Chrom's heavy footsteps and making my way down the hall.

"Robin?" A high-pitched voice called lightly. I half-turned. "What are you doing out here in your chemise?"

I blushed, looking down at myself. "Lissa. I was uh… going to Emm's room." My cheeks flamed.

"Ohhh… it's not a very romantic night for that, but whatever suits your fancy, I suppose." She winked.

"It's not that… you know why I'm going there." I sighed, feeling disappointed with myself. Why was I so afraid of a little storm?

"Oh, that… Yeah. Okay. Go ahead, then. I'll stay here and distract Chrom if he comes by." Lissa said softly, smiling.

"Thanks, Lissa." I offered a smile, heading back down the hall to Emm's room.

I stopped before her oaken door, my hand hovering above the knob. Thunder rolled overhead again, sending another wave of fear through my body.

 _No._ I thought suddenly, letting my hand fall back to my side. _If I can't face my fears, I can't help Emm face hers. I can't protect her when she needs me. I have to face this._

I turned away from the door and headed briskly down the hall, weaving my way through the maze of corridors until I found myself at the double doors leading out into the courtyard. Another rumble of thunder sounded, like the cold growling of some monster. I steeled myself and pulled the doors open.

Wind and rain whipped around me, soaking me to the bone. I shuddered and walked out into the storm, looking up at the sky. It was inky black, only shifting momentarily when lightning flashed.

My heart hammered in my chest, the sound thudding against my eardrums. "I can do this. I have to do this." I said, unable to hear myself over the storm. A bolt of lightning struck the ground just outside the palace wall. Thunder exploded overhead, cracking and rumbling. I whimpered despite myself and ducked at the sound, muscles tensing. I could feel my heart beating faster. My breathing was heavy, but empty.

I began to pace around the courtyard, avoiding trees. I was freezing. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I could think of at least two Shepherds that would call this idea either foolish or asinine.

"Robin!" A voice called. I could barely hear it. I turned. Emm was running across the courtyard to me. Her hair was already soaked, beautiful curls gone.

"Emm?" I asked. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. Instinctively, I closed my own arms around her.

"Idiot!" She murmured fiercely, unwilling to let me go. She buried her face in my shoulder.

"Emm, I'm fine." I said, my voice wavering. My eyes itched.

"Come in." She said, pulling out of my hug and grabbing my arm in one fluid movement. I pulled at her grasp and she looked back at me.

"No. I have to face my fear." I told her. I attempted to hold my tears back, but it didn't work. "How can I protect you when I'm afraid of something like this? I can't. I have to do this."

"Idiot!" She repeated. Her brows were low on her hard, hazel eyes. "I can… fight!" She pulled hard on my arm, forcing me forward. "Don't… be… stupid!"

"I don't want to lose you, Emm!" I said, tears flowing freely down my cheeks.

Her eyes blazed as she turned fully. She moved until our bodies were pressed against each other. I found myself unable to move. "And what… if… I… lose you?" She asked.

The cold realization hit me. I _was_ an idiot. I was blinded by my own desires and unable to see the effect of what I was doing.

"Come." She said softly, taking my hand in hers. She led me inside as lightning flashed again.

We walked to her room in silence, hands clasped tightly together. We entered her chamber and she sat me on the bed. I looked up at her as she removed her soaked chemise and dropped it on the floor. Even when she was angry she was so graceful and beautiful.

"Take off… yours. You'll… catch… cold." She said, gentle hands on her perfect hips.

I obeyed, wiping water off my face before tossing it next to hers.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled.

"I love you." She said. I looked up in time to see her serene face leaning in for a kiss. Her lips pressed against mine and I immediately let myself relax, kissing her back. I felt her legs on either side of mine and her soft hands on my bare back. Our tongues slid together and the familiar tug of desire began to coil in my gut.

Emm pulled away, breathless. She smiled at me. "Don't… leave me."

"I won't." I breathed, moving in for another kiss. She turned her head away, giggling. I faltered.

"No… more." She said, stroking my wet hair. "You… need… rest."

She was right. I felt exhausted. Storms always exhausted me, even when I didn't recklessly go out into them.

"Stay." She commanded, moving up the bed. She pulled the covers up and crawled under them, still naked except for her white panties.

I followed her, crawling under the raised blankets and snuggling up to her warm body. She put her arms around me and I sighed contentedly. Thunder growled above us, but it didn't affect me anymore. Not as long as Emm was with me.


End file.
